I'd like to hear about your accomplishments and/or things you are proud of

My youngest daughter was Dx'd with autism at 18 months. The leading pediatric neurologist at Childrens Hospital in Philly told us she'd probably never speak. My wife and I said that we weren't willing to concede that. Through much hard work with therapy, early intervention, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), seemingly endless autism seminars, and with a personalized eval and plan laid out by Yale Child Study Center, she has not only overcome speech and behavioral delays but has gone on to graduate from University of Pittsburgh (PITT) with an honors degree in Japanese language/Asian Culture. She now works for High Mark Health. Huge credit to Andrew Bondi PhD (University of Delaware), Dr Umi Klin and Dr Fred Volkmar ( Yale University), my wife Kathy and my oldest daughter Andrea.

Oh, and on a much smaller scale, I've played in bands with people that were in some fairly big name bands. I also did some live and studio work for Cleveland International, a subsidiary of Epic records w/ fellow Clevelander and Epic A&R man Steve Popovich in the 70's and 80's.

Congratulations - as a parent I wake up daily knowing how lucky I am that they are both healthy and perfectly functional. I can only imagine your thoughts and concerns when your daughter was first diagnosed and I can only commend you on your strength and grit on what I'm sure was a daily struggle I'm so happy she is doing as well as she is - that's amazing!!
 
I'll tell you when I get there. ;)

I'm not sure I want to live to 95 but I'm in really good shape and (I AM fortunate too) so far in really good health. If it stays that way, who knows.
I would hate to die right before they figure out aging reversal. Some stem-cell therapies are starting to look promising, eg AgeX's ‘Method of Generating Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells’. Who knows, maybe I'll strike it rich one day and can afford my own surrogate for replacement parts (see the movie "The Island", where a surrogate - played by Ewan McGregor - breaks out and finds his owner).
 
It's interesting so many of us struggled in school but obviously wasn't because of a lack of intelliect-because we all did achieve. All my siblings were all straight As as all my kids, and my wife. I never made straight As in anything except the sciences. I actually wasn't planning on college it was my Dad's idea. So I went-he had lots of control over me-he was psychologically manipulative/abuse type, and to be fair I'd do anything to get him to like me so I was motivated by that. Anyways I dropped out with all Fs after two years and took about a year off working and lots of personal changes (beating drug addiction, telling Dad to bite me) so I went back to college on my own accord. Struggled in everything except an intro Biology class and did well in an Art class-I wanted to be an Art major actually, but "Dad" wanted all his sons to be physicians (course none of us are LOL) . So I started back pre-med-holy moly what an idiot since I had no background for it. I remember my first physics class I was bombing with all Fs so I went to the professor who was head of department-he spent about 15 minutes with me-and the light turned on. I made all 100's on ever exam after that in all three courses we had to take. Math courses I struggled but did well enough, which is odd because physics is all math. English was my nemesis as I wrote poorly -still do except if I really take my time and organize my thoughts with an outline (just writing off the top of my head runs like the passage of ideas through my head (so hard to make heads or tails LOL) leave out letters, words, change order of words, etc.) we had a rising junior English exam you had to pass to continue-I took it 3-4 times to finally pass. Course writing is something we all have to do no matter your job so it could have been rating limiting-but they demanded lots of reports, dissertations, etc. so I learned through fire (actually got pretty good by PhD) but now with age I note I'm failing again-but I don't write much now either. So many of us with natural music, art, etc talent, and so many who struggled though school though obviously intelligent. My best friend is a welder who only finished high school-he had learning difficulties so he never really tried to academically achieve. Now he's super bright fella and I've often wondered if he also had a learning disability and in reality he would have gone to achieve what he wanted-his father was a welder so he became one as his brother. I always hated I didn't have natural athletic or academic talent-I really had to work to achieve meagerly, but the experience sure did help me teaching when I'd see so many students struggling just like I did. I'd rather have a poor student who works hard than an egocentric super intelligent that it all comes easy.
If you'd only mastered the paragraph - we might have been reading the thoughts of President GetAgrippa tonight... :geek:
 
Okay, I'll play.

Music wise, I'm happy the band I helped start 26 years ago still exists, and the music I put my soul into plays on. I'm happy to be playing technically at a level that I thought was unachievable when I first started. It doesn't seem like a big deal now, thank you practice.

The rest: My family. Good times and bad, we are still here. Together. Not everyone sticks it out. I chose my wife, and I stand by that decision. Sometimes I feel like she deserves better, but she is still here, and I do everything I can to ensure it remains that way. We love and support each other, thick and thin. I'm sure she feels the same.

I'm proud that I've purchased a home and vehicles for my family and myself. The rest is miniscule. We have a roof over our heads and the ability to come and go as we please. To me that is freedom.

I don't think much else matters.
Is your band on youtube? Pm me if I get a pass to view?
 
'List Achievements/ things you are proud of'?
Errr.
Can I get back to you?
Or is there a box I can tick for 'Not applicable'?
But watch this space - I could be a late developer! :cool:
 
eh.. wot

I don't see that happening at all, this ball of mud is already over-crowded and likely only multi-stupid billionaires will have that scientific privilege if it ever materializes.

Then at some point the sun is going to expand and boil all the earth's oceans away or sooner a meteor might hit it and it will all be for naught.

Focus on working with what ya got.
I'm working with what the scientists have. And they have stem cells. As for the meteorite, I'm certain we'll have perfected a defense against those in the next 50-100 yrs, either attaching a rover to one and using jet propulsion to scoot it off coarse, or blowing it up entirely with a nuclear missile.

George Carlin says it will be billions of years before the Earth falls into the Sun.
 
I'm working with what the scientists have. And they have stem cells. As for the meteorite, I'm certain we'll have perfected a defense against those in the next 50-100 yrs, either attaching a rover to one and using jet propulsion to scoot it off coarse, or blowing it up entirely with a nuclear missile.

George Carlin says it will be billions of years before the Earth falls into the Sun.

Gotta work on those telomeres - need them nice and long.
 
Not trying to be argumentative, but it's the longest thing any of us will ever do.

I agree most fervently. This is a topic to which I've devoted great thought. My conclusion is that most lives are quite long. It's memories that are short. We recollect with selective attentiveness, deleting, to conserve intellective space, the banal or uneventful moments of existence, and there are hoards of them. We preserve only the landmark or intriguing experiences of life, which are few and far between for the average person. Looking back, we are thus inclined to believe that life is rather short, as we have limited chronological material to call upon when measuring its duration. If, on the other hand, we could reassemble, in vivid detail, every tedious second of existence, we'd realize just how unbelievably long life can be.

Seventy-something years, the life expectancy for most of us, is a VERY long time.
 
Is your band on youtube? Pm me if I get a pass to view?

Here is a thread I made:

 
Here is a thread I made:



Right on man! that's cool!
 
Here is a thread I made:


Most enjoyable. I like the random, raw camerawork. It lends realism to the show. And nice playing, man. I'm not surprised at all. I've never doubted your drumming competence.

Are you using AHEAD sticks in that performance? It's hard to tell in black-and-white footage.
 
Most enjoyable. I like the random, raw camerawork. It lends realism to the show. And nice playing, man. I'm not surprised at all. I've never doubted your drumming competence.

Are you using AHEAD sticks in that performance? It's hard to tell in black-and-white footage.
Thank you, glad you liked it.

Yes, that was during my AHEAD period. It lasted about 2 or so years. My frustrations with AHEAD were the tips and blend rings mainly. Sometimes a tip would unscrew and then the stick would damage everything it touched. The blend ring would split and pinch my fingers. My technique is different now so I may fair better with them, but I love the wood sticks I currently use.
 
Not drumming:
  • Similar to so many other posters; Failed almost everything at school 1st time around, had another go.
    • Got an apprenticeship, went to night school, got English on my 7th try. Passed my apprenticeship course, went to university, got a degree. Like lots of previous posters to this thread, you want something, keep working at it.
  • Wasn't very sporty but learnt to hang glide which then kept me busy in my spare time for years. Taking off from mountains in France was breathtaking, especially compared to the bumps we have in England.
  • Same as lots of us, wife, kids, independence.
  • After an uncertain number of decades smoking and about 25 attempts, (my wife gave up on her 1st go), I somehow managed to quit.
  • Started running, got injured, hospital doctor said I should never run, (I'd broken a leg as a kid so v slight issue from that perhaps). Did not believe this, got anatomy book and self treated, aged over 50 I then went on to run in the 2017 Man V Horse, (a short "marathon" over the Welsh mountains), beat 5 horses that eventually finished and 9 that didn't. (That means another 46 horses beat me but I just wanted to beat any old 3 legged pony dragging an anvil and if not that then just complete the whole course so was very happy with that).
  • I remembered liking art at school, even if I didn't excel at it. Took a year off to make art. I found that time making that art was one of the best and it's still on the cards for the future. Chase your dreams.
  • That's enough harking to myself but nice to have an excuse to do so :)

Drumming, (this stuff is the absolute pond life level of drumming compared to everyone else so far but you've got to start somewhere):
  • Took a few lessons, no drum kit to practice on, didn't work out.
  • Got a "bargain" electronic kit. Bits didn't stay plugged in very well so it played different sounds to what I was playing, (well that's what I claim).
  • Got a viable electronic kit. Over did it, got arm injuries. Had 4 lessons (helped me fix arm technique) and Covid struck. Using books & software lessons at the moment. Still at a very elementary level but still at it.
  • Got carried away and now have a right foot injury (plantar fasciitis) so switched to left foot (+ locking hi-hat). Surprised myself that within a few weeks I could get nearly back to where I was, (well, except I've not got to playing the hi-hat peddle with the left foot at the same time as the bass which would be something to aspire to, now there's a thought...).
Thanks to all the other contributors to this thread. Inspiring stuff.
 
Great thread! A quality 6 page read.

My first accomplishment was returning to drums after having my right hand partially amputated 13 years ago. Seconds after the injury, my first thought was how grateful I was to be alive, and my second thought was how lucky I'd be if I could ever play drums with two hands again. Drums motivated my intense physical therapy and thanks to the best medical care I can imagine (especially the hand surgeon who was on call that day) I began making progress towards that goal. I played drums with 3 limbs for the better part of a year, and probably improved as a musician during this time more than any other period in my life. My hand and most importantly the thumb have permanent limitations, but this all happened prior to the years when I made most of my income from drumming and was called by dozens of bands as well as leading my own and being a member of others. It's been a good comeback, and I've been very fortunate to get back to doing nearly everything I used to (including guitar, keys, and bass), albeit often in a modified way.

Still, after a while between the hand and other injuries, as well as the other physical activities that were part of my life, I needed a big life change a few years ago to ease the physical toll on my body. After much thought and no STEM background, I went back to school specifically motivated by integrating more renewable energy into the grid, and earned a BA then Masters in Electrical Engineering (Power and Energy systems) from a very challenging engineering school. I married the love of my life the same year as graduating and starting a new career. I now love my job, and geek out on power just as much as I do on drums. I drum less than I use to and never get paid for it now, but now whenever I play I'm playing 100% what I love to play.
 
I've been avoiding reading this thread. Threads like this cause me to reflect on memories and experiences, and while building a narrative of my life in my mind I realize which events or periods I have decided are significant. It's been quite a ride this morning, interpreting those memories and giving them meaning and all the while learning about my current perspective.

About 8 years ago the business unit at the software company where I worked was restructured (I was grateful to have kept my job) and I found myself working in a new business unit. It was a large software company and I was a technical writer. I like writing and my formal training is in structural engineering (I have a master's degree) -- I'm able to quickly figure out complicated stuff and describe it clearly. I guess the director of this new business unit didn't like me too much. I'm still not sure why as I'd always had good relationships at work, gotten on well with my managers, and generally did my best. I remember realizing that teammates had started treating me a bit differently -- when joking around, the teasing banter seemed a bit more rough, a chat room that I belonged to suddenly disappeared and reappeared under a different name. Eventually they were more or less openly rude and denigrating toward me, I was ostracized, and generally treated as less-than.

I endured 5 years before I got out (alive, and just barely). It's strange though that I had accepted this environment and adapted to it, but without realizing how it was affecting me. I internalized their treatment of me, and my internal narrative eventually reflected their behaviour. I'm sure the director of that group is a narcissist and he used his influence to attack me socially. For whatever reason, he wanted to take me down a few pegs and he certainly was successful.

I've been at a different software company for about 3 years now, and they've made me the lead of a team of developers. I've been gradually rebuilding my self-esteem and confidence. Although I'm still triggered by certain situations it happens less frequently, and I've learned how to more quickly deal with my emotions. I feel so stupid and angry at myself for not realizing that the hell I went through at work was affecting the other, more important aspects of my life. I'm rebuilding, but I still can't feel proud of anything I've ever done. Lately, though, I'm feeling as though I am starting to like myself again and I can see that this period in my life will become a part of my past for which I am grateful.
 
I took a leave of absence from work and stayed with my Mom in the last weeks, held her hand when she passed.
I once helped a screaming mother and daughter pull their car off the tracks as a train came rolling along, near a crowded intersection and nobody else was helping.
Bruce Conte told my band leader 'use your drummer when I get up' when he and Roger Smith came to our open jams.
 
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